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Law360 (December 14, 2020, 7:30 PM EST )
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| Craig Carpenito |
Carpenito, a former Alston & Bird LLP partner who previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey — when the office was led by ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — was named interim U.S. attorney in January 2018 by the Trump administration and then appointed to the position by the district court about three months later.
"Serving as the United States attorney has been the greatest professional honor of my lifetime. It's a dream for any line AUSA to eventually lead the office that they love," Carpenito said in a statement.
"Over the past three years, we have been through a lot — the longest shutdown in government history, a global pandemic and two tragic acts of violent extremism that led to the loss of precious lives," said Carpenito, referring in part to a shooting at U.S. District Judge Esther Salas' residence that left her son dead and husband wounded.
"Through it all, we protected the great traditions of this office, the Department of Justice and the state that we all love and serve," he added. "For that, I am forever grateful."
Carpenito pointed to various accomplishments by the office during his tenure, from reductions in violent crime to increased productivity.
In fiscal year 2017, the last full fiscal year before he became U.S. attorney, for example, the office brought 870 criminal cases, Carpenito said. That number jumped to 1,217 in fiscal year 2018 and then to 1,333 in fiscal year 2019, he said.
"And in fiscal year 2020, a full half of which occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and all of the challenges that posed and continues to pose to law enforcement, the number increased yet again by over 15%, to a total of 1,535 criminal cases," Carpenito said. "As an office, we have been working smarter and we have been working harder. These numbers reflect that."
Carpenito also stressed that the office's staffing has reached "record levels" on his watch.
At the time he took office, only 130 of the 147 assistant U.S. attorney slots were filled, Carpenito said. The office now has 155 assistant U.S. attorney slots filled and 10 special assistant U.S. attorneys from other federal agencies as well as the state of New Jersey and county prosecutor's offices, he said.
"We hired and filled our 17 vacant AUSA slots by improving the management of our budget, and we increased our head count by applying to Washington for increased funding to hire eight additional AUSAs for specific slots (immigration, affirmative civil enforcement in health care, violent crime and unemployment insurance benefit fraud)," Carpenito said.
Carpenito, who co-chaired the litigation and trial practice group and the government and internal investigations team at Alston & Bird, served as an assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey from 2005 to 2008, when the office was then headed by Christie.
In 2016 and 2017, Carpenito defended Christie against an activist's criminal complaint in state court accusing the then-governor of official misconduct in connection with the infamous "Bridgegate" scandal. Prosecutors ultimately dismissed the complaint.
Until Carpenito's replacement is named, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig will serve as acting U.S. attorney, the office said Monday. Honig is the second woman to serve in the first assistant post and now will be "the second woman in the 232-year history of this office to be its chief federal law enforcement officer," the office said.
"Throughout my tenure, Rachael has been my partner and principal adviser on everything that I do," Carpenito said. "I am extremely proud and honored that she will be the acting U.S. attorney when I leave. The office and its legacy could not be in better hands."
--Editing by Stephen Berg.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
